Area floor covering

ABSTRACT

A system and method for forming an area rug using at least one replaceable wear surface positioned on a floor or subfloor. The system includes a base and at least one replaceable wear surface, of which both may be cut to fit a floor space of almost any shape. The system may be attached to the floor using an adhesive, a double-sided tape, or a cloth, with or without adhesive, or not attached at all. The cloth can be applied coextensively to the base and replaceable wear surface, or intermittingly, such as only at intersecting corners. The system can be sold to consumers as a self contained kit or as a group of components that can be separately selected.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/233,680 filed on Sep. 19, 2000.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] The invention generally relates to the field of carpet and floorcovering, specifically to the area of self contained flooring systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Floor covering has included a vast array of materials such asceramic tile, wood, carpet, carpet tile and other materials. Equally asnumerous have been the methods for installing and securing flooring,either permanently or temporarily, to subfloors. Traditionally, amongother approaches, flooring systems have used surrounding walls as amethod of containing and securing the flooring material. However, thismethod provides very little flexibility to the installer of the flooringsystem. Using existing walls as lateral support for flooring materialsrequires that the installer invest substantial time and labor to fit theflooring materials to the existing subfloor. Accordingly, a need existsfor a method or system that allows floor tiles to be contained andlaterally supported by a means other than the existing walls of thestructure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] This invention is a self contained kit or a group of componentsfrom which a purchaser can assemble an area rug. A four-sided framesurrounds modules of carpet or carpet tile bounded by the frame, whichalso provides transition from the carpet to the floor on which theassembly lies. Frame members may be attached to a fabric that underliesthe modules, and that fabric may bond to the modules or the floor orboth to prevent lateral movement. The frame members may be made ofplastic, wood, metal, ceramic, marble, or other suitable materials.

[0005] Objects of this invention include:

[0006] To provide components salable through retail outlets forproducing an area rug.

[0007] To provide systems and methods for containing replaceable wearsurfaces without reliance on interior walls of a room for lateralsupport.

[0008] To provide an efficient method of installing replaceable wearsurfaces in any room with a minimal investment of time and labor.

[0009] As the following description and accompanying drawings makeclear, these and other objects are achieved by this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an area rug of this invention.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the rug of FIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a base member andof a replaceable wear surface of this invention taken at 3-3 in FIG. 1.

[0013]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment ofthe base member and local surface similar to FIG. 3.

[0014]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a collaboration of pieces forforming an area rug.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015]FIG. 1 shows the area rug flooring system 10 of this invention.The flooring system 10 includes an exterior base 12 and multiplereplaceable wear surfaces 14. The replaceable wear surfaces 14 maybecarpet tiles or hard surface modules composed of materials such as, butnot limited to hardwoods or ceramics, and can include a surface portion15 and a base 17.

[0016] The exterior base 12 normally includes four sides 16 sized toreceive multiple replaceable wear surfaces 14. However, the exteriorbase 12 may be comprised of any number of sides 16 and any number ofshapes, including triangular, circular, and any shape in between. Thereplaceable wear surfaces 14 may be assembled in various combinationsand patterns to suit the needs and tastes of the consumer. The sides 16typically are joined at a 90° angle to form a square or rectangular base12 around the area rug 10. Alternatively, sides 16 may be joined atother angles to form various shapes to suit the needs of the layout ofthe existing subfloor 24. Sides 16 may be joined in a number of waysincluding adhesives, snap fittings, sonic welding, splines, nails,screws, or other means of attachment. The ends 22 of the sides 16assembled with 90° angles usually are cut at 45° angles to make miterjoints between ends 22. Alternatively, cope and stick, butt joints, orother joints may be used.

[0017]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the system 10. The exteriorbase 12 can be constructed of a variety of materials including plastics,wood, rubber, metals, ceramics, marble and other resilient and workablematerials. Extruded plastic or aluminum profiles are particularlydesirable for use as exterior base 12.

[0018]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken at 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing areplaceable wear surface 14 disposed within the exterior base 12. Thebase 12 can include a top surface 26, a bottom surface 36, a exteriorsurface 27, and an interior surface 18. The base 12 includes arounded-over region 25 positioned between the exterior surface 27 andthe top surface 26 or between the interior surface 18 and the topsurface 26, or both. The replaceable wear surface 14 fits within arecess 20 located in the interior surface 18 of the exterior base 12.

[0019] The replaceable wear surface 14 and the exterior base 12 can beattached to each other and, optionally to the subfloor 24, through anumber of methods including the use of a double-sided tape 29 or a clothor fabric 28, which may be knitted, woven, non-woven or of otherstructures. The cloth 28 could be used to attach both the exterior base12 and the replaceable wear surface 14 to the subfloor 24, only theexterior base 12 to the subfloor, or only the replaceable wear surface14 to the subfloor. Additionally, the cloth 28 could be used to attachthe entire underside 34 of the replaceable wear modules 14 and theunderside 36 of the exterior base 12. In yet another embodiment, thecloth 28 could be used intermittently to secure together, or to thesubfloor 24, only the corners 30 or edges 32 of the underside 34 of thereplaceable wear surfaces 14. Alternatively, the flooring system 10 maybe used with no cloth 28 at all. Instead, the exterior base 12 could besecured to the subfloor 24 using a rubber mat, an adhesive, a peel andstick system, or a double-sided tape 29.

[0020] The cloth 28 may, for instance, be an open mesh with substantialinterstices, and the strands may be coated with a high friction materialor with a pressure sensitive adhesive. For instance, cloth 28 may beLOK-LIFT® material available from Optimum Technology, Inc. and describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,587, which is incorporated herein by reference.Other grid and fabric structures are also usable for cloth 28.

[0021]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing analternative embodiment of a side 16 used to make an exterior base 12. InFIG. 4, a replaceable wear surface 14 is disposed within the exteriorbase 12. In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the replaceablewear surface 14 is flush with the top surface 26 of the exterior base.The side 16 can have a thickness equal to or approximately equal to thethickless of the replaceable wear surface 14. However, the side 16 couldalso have a thickness substantially less than the thickness ofreplaceable wear surface 14.

[0022] The components of flooring system 10 may be sold unassembled sothat the purchaser may assemble the exterior base 12 by joining sides 16and, if used, attaching cloth 28. Replaceable wear surfaces 14 are thenpositioned within exterior base 12 in an arrangement chosen by thepurchaser.

[0023] The exterior base 12 may be attached to the cloth 28 with anadhesive on the cloth 28, additional adhesive, a mechanical lock or notat all. Exterior base 12 may be attached directly to a subfloor with adouble-sided tape 29, a peel and stick system, or not at all. If a highfriction cloth 28 is used with the replaceable wear surface 14, thecloth 28 and the replaceable wear surface 14 can act as one unit, andthe exterior base 12 can be positioned around the replaceable wearsurface 14 without the need for attachment to the cloth 28 orreplaceable wear surface 14.

[0024] The system described above can be marketed and sold as a kit 38,as shown in FIG. 5. For instance, the system can be contained within acontainer 40. The container 40 may be a pasteboard or other box.Alternatively, the system can be sold as individual components so that aconsumer can select the pieces, such as sides 16, replaceable wearsurfaces 14, cloth 28, and adhesives. Further, the sides 16 may byoffered in various thickness, lengths, colors and designs. Thereplaceable wear surfaces 14 may also be offered in various sizes,colors and designs. The system may further include a knife or othermeans for cutting sides 16 to desired lengths.

[0025] An advantage of this invention is that it provides systems andmethods for installing free lay replaceable wear surfaces with a minimalinvestment of time and labor.

[0026] Another advantage of this invention is that it provides systemsand methods for containing many types of hard and soft replaceable wearsurfaces without the need for lateral support or containment typicallyprovided by interior wall surfaces.

[0027] Yet another advantage of this invention is that it providessystems and methods for a flooring structure where the surface may beeasily replaced.

[0028] Still another advantage of this invention is that modules of thereplaceable wear surface may be assembled in multiple configurations inorder to obtain multiple designs with the same components.

[0029] An additional advantage of this invention is that the rug may beinstalled in oddly shaped rooms with a minimal investment of time andlabor.

[0030] While various embodiments of this invention have been describedabove, these descriptions are given for purposes of illustration andexplanation. Variations, changes, modifications and departures from thesystems and methods disclosed above may be adopted without departurefrom the spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:
 1. A system for forming an area rug, comprising: (a) at leastone replaceable wear surface having at least one edge, an underside anda top surface; and (b) at least one side forming an enclosed base havingan underside, at least one interior side wall, at least one exteriorside wall, and a top surface.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theenclosed base further comprises at least two sides.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the at least two sides comprise at least two ends andmeans for attaching the ends to each other.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein the means for attaching the ends to each other is selected fromthe group consisting of adhesives, snap fittings, nails, and screws. 5.The system of claim 3, wherein the at least two sides comprise two endsshaped so that when joined, the two ends form a miter joint.
 6. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the at least two ends are capable of beingjoined using a joint selected from the group consisting of a cope andstick joint and a butt joint.
 7. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising a cloth attachable to the underside of at least one othersystem component.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the cloth isattachable to the base.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the cloth isattachable to only a portion of the base.
 10. The system of claim 7,wherein the cloth is attachable to the at least one replaceable wearsurface.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the cloth is attachable toonly a portion of the at least one replaceable wear surface.
 12. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the cloth is attachable to the entireundersides of the base and the replaceable wear surface.
 13. The systemof claim 7, further comprising adhesive on the cloth.
 14. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising adhesive on the underside of the base. 15.The system of claim 1, further comprising a rubber mat positionable onthe underside of the base.
 16. The system of claim 1, further comprisinga double-sided tape positionable on the underside of the base.
 17. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein at least one interior side wall defines arecess for receiving a portion of the at least one replaceable wearsurface.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the baseis generally flush with the top surface of the at least one replaceablewear surface.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the top surface of thebase is joined to the exterior side wall of the base by a curvedsurface.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the baseis joined to the interior side wall of the base by a curved surface. 21.A system for forming an area rug, comprising: (a) at least onereplaceable wear surface having at least one edge, an underside and atop surface; (b) at least one side forming an enclosed base having anunderside, at least one interior side wall, at least one exterior sidewall, and a top surface; (c) a recess for receiving a portion of the atleast one replaceable wear surface, the recess being defined by the atleast one interior side wall; (d) a first curved surface joining theexterior side wall and the top surface of the base; and (e) a secondcurved surface joining the interior side wall and the top surface of thebase.